# Why are Christian Bookstores Allowed to Ban Books? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 5, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271 "2021-03-05T15:24:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 28
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/543 "2021-03-10T00:01:03Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Heh. I may be a little shirtier than normal, having come home expecting a $300 plumbing bill and finding a $6500 one instead. Does wonders, in the wrong direction, for one’s mood. ~~The March mini-rant thread is down the hall, bub.~~ Ouch. That’s gotta sting. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/544 "2021-03-10T00:08:37Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Ok. It should read without the fear of violence. Anyways, forgive the typo on the repeated question. Just as I thought. You don’t have the stomach to read your own posts. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/545 "2021-03-10T00:32:45Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I don’t assault others based on their freedom of expression. It’s not hard. I don’t assault others based on their religious beliefs, regardless of how abhorrent or primitive. It’s not hard. Again, nobody here has advocated assaulting anyone and this has fuck - all to do with the OP. I don’t know why you keep trotting this out like it’s a controversial position or in any way reflects the sentiment here. It’s just a shitty thing to do to the people you spend time with. My husband can sometimes take a joke too far, to the point where he’s repeatedly questioning the motives of his loved ones for laughs. He thinks he’s teasing but really he’s acting like an asshole. We only had to smack it down a couple times before he realized he was being mean and apologized. Stop being so fucking mean. Engage with people on their own stated positions rather than the bad - faith bogeyman in your head. It’s absolutely shitty what you are doing. And you have done it over and over and over. That’s why I reject this notion that the Pit is somehow a hive mind or place for bullies. You are the one doing the shitty thing to others. I’m a forgiving person but I’m reaching my limit. It feels like absolute shit having someone impugn your motives and assume the worst about you (and your friends!) no matter how many times you explain to them what you really think and believe. Whatever point you think you’re trying to prove, you aren’t proving it. You’re just alienating more and more people who might otherwise be amenable to differing points of view. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/546 "2021-03-10T00:55:51Z")
What a fascinatingly ironic perspective. I seem to recall several attacks on my motives in the pit, in ATMB, and elsewhere on these forums in far more vicious language and intent than I use and never any push back on it. I wonder if you or these other victims of mean ol’ octopus would post on a site that was as one-sided as this but was ideologically opposed. Of course labeling me a Nazi, a racist, a homophobe, whatever the insult of the day is merely because I am pro liberty is unworthy of note or complaint. I find that odd that you hold me to a higher standard, in the pit no less, than the vast majority of folks who start trouble with pit threads. My biggest fault is I unapologetically post my opinion without the need for social approval. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/547 "2021-03-10T01:26:12Z")
Fap fap fap fap ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/548 "2021-03-10T01:31:38Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Of course labeling me a Nazi, a racist, a homophobe, whatever the insult of the day is merely because I am pro liberty is unworthy of note or complaint. Well no shit. If you had framed this as “because I have a different political opinion” I’d have a shred of sympathy. When you trot out the “because I’m pro liberty” schoolyard taunt, as if anyone who has a different opinion is clearly opposed to liberty, you’re being a fuckhead. That’s why you get dragged through the dirt here. You’re like the guy in a purple t-shirt who walks into a store and spits on someone and starts knocking things over then after being tossed out bitches that the store is prejudiced against people in purple t-shirts. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/549 "2021-03-10T01:46:54Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I am pro liberty No. You’re not. You are lying again. You’re being attacked because your definition of liberty is totally self-serving. You wear it like a shield and then use it to attack others who have a sane definition of the term. You’re no more than a sovereign citizen, thinking that the law contains magic words that can be invoked to save your sorry ass from deserved consequences. I shudder to think that they may be fetid corners of the internet where the “pro-liberty” gather, telling stories of how they owned the libs with their stalwart defenses of their imaginary philosophy. Your self-delusion may work in your favor in those precincts. But not here. You bring nothing to the discussion other than lies and evasions. When you’re banned those will be your sole legacy. How proud of yourself you must be. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/550 "2021-03-10T01:51:56Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > It feels like absolute shit having someone impugn your motives and assume the worst about you (and your friends!) no matter how many times you explain to them what you really think and believe. You mean like calling people racists and sexists and transphobes when in reality they just have a different set of political beliefs? Because that happens here _all the time_. as well as calling Republicans in general evil, belonging to an evil party. The condescension and rightous sniffing aginst anyone on the right on this board makes it a hostile environment for anyone who doesn’t join in the amen chorus. I won’t use the word ‘unsafe’ because safetyism is horseshit, but to be on the right on this board requires a much thicker skin than, say, reading a copy of the New York Times with a Tom Cotton editorial in it. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/551 "2021-03-10T01:56:42Z")
And yet another thread turns into the one-man cretin show thanks to our resident non-banned troll. Seriously, folks, why do you insist on trying to communicate with him? You’re just talking at him and he’s just throwing bullshit as usual. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/552 "2021-03-10T02:02:45Z")
As for Amazon, as a sometimes writer it does give me pause to wonder what happens if I write a Kindle book and Amazon decides they don’t like me. With a press of a button they can not only stop selljng the book, but they can erase extant copies on every device, as if the book had never been written. People who worry about censorship should be very concerned about a company’s ability to wipe out copies of books they have already sold. I don’t want Amazon shut down or broken up or regulated at all, but as a content producer and consumer, I will evalute their censoriousness carefully and make sure I maintain diverse sources of both income and stuff to read. The market will take care of this eventually. Amazon does not have the kind of audience lock-in that makes social media a target of antitrust investigations. Not for sales of goods anyway. AWS is different. If this becomes an actual problem and not just a couple of outliers, Amazon will pay a price in the market, just as alternatives are now springing up faster for people who don’t trust facebook and Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/553 "2021-03-10T02:04:15Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > You mean like calling people racists and sexists and transphobes when in reality they just have a different set of political beliefs? Because that happens here _all the time_ . as well as calling Republicans in general evil, belonging to an evil party. But, unlike **octopus** , we’re usually able to back up those statements with evidence. The truth often appears hateful to those in love with the lie. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/554 "2021-03-10T02:04:57Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > You mean like calling people racists and sexists and transphobes when in reality they just have a different set of political beliefs? When those political beliefs include treating people differently based on their race, sex, and sexuality, what _should_ we call them? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/555 "2021-03-10T02:06:04Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > When those political beliefs include treating people differently based on their race, sex, and sexuality, what _should_ we call them? You beat me to this by one minute. Exactly right. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/556 "2021-03-10T02:09:31Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > And yet another thread turns into the one-man cretin show thanks to our resident non-banned troll. Seriously, folks, why do you insist on trying to communicate with him? You’re just talking at him and he’s just throwing bullshit as usual. Just what did you think was going to happen when the thread was moved to the pit? And I don’t see the ‘trolling’. I see someone who continually fights for his position, and it’s one that the majority here don’t share. He doesn’t vanish after posting an inflammatory message, he stays and tries to defend it. You may think his points are dumb or evil or whatever, but it’s not trolling - even if a bunch of crybullies scream and kick and trigger pit threads every time he does. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/557 "2021-03-10T02:11:24Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > When those political beliefs include treating people differently based on their race, sex, and sexuality, what _should_ we call them? Democrats? I mean, it WAS Democrats who just tried to get the California law overturned that demanded equal treatment based on race and gender, right? Anyone who buys into ‘White Fragility’ bullshit has no business calling out anyone else for not being colorblind. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/558 "2021-03-10T02:18:58Z")
Is it Democrats that are actively suppressing the black vote in Georgia right now? Do the Democrats have homophobia written directly into their party platform? Did Democrats just ban abortion in Arkansas? The irony here is that you ignore all that to whinge about affirmative action, and then pretend that white fragility isn’t a thing. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/559 "2021-03-10T02:27:30Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > No. You’re not. You are lying again. > > You’re being attacked because your definition of liberty is totally self-serving. You wear it like a shield and then use it to attack others who have a sane definition of the term. You’re no more than a sovereign citizen, thinking that the law contains magic words that can be invoked to save your sorry ass from deserved consequences. > > I shudder to think that they may be fetid corners of the internet where the “pro-liberty” gather, telling stories of how they owned the libs with their stalwart defenses of their imaginary philosophy. Your self-delusion may work in your favor in those precincts. > > But not here. You bring nothing to the discussion other than lies and evasions. When you’re banned those will be your sole legacy. How proud of yourself you must be. Lol. I doubt you understand 1/2 the words you write. You folks are so deluded or disingenuous with your wokeness you don’t understand what liberty means anymore. You reflexively wield words like racist and sexist like the inquisitors wielded blasphemer. You use this language to silence. You don’t want to explore ideas you want to punish the impure. The biggest danger to the world today is the illiberal wing of the modern left. Unfortunately, the moderate left, with exceptions like Bill Maher, etc. are too cowed into standing up to you dishonest, manipulative, and toxic ideologues. They are probably afraid of being doxxed and having a mostly peaceful event near their business or residence. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/560 "2021-03-10T02:31:14Z")
When did the word “political” become an acceptable substitute for “ethical” and/or “moral”? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/561 "2021-03-10T02:36:13Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Democrats? I mean, it WAS Democrats who just tried to get the California law overturned that demanded equal treatment based on race and gender, right? Why is always that when a right winger says “right?” it is with a lot of ignorance? > **[California Is Not a Bellwether on Affirmative Action](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/california-not-bellwether-affirmative-action/)** > > The November 3 results for Proposition 16 underscore the need for a clear message, adequate time and resources, and voter persuasion. > In focus groups and polls, support among Black and Latinx voters jumped when they understood the meaning of the proposition. Among [Latinx voters](https://latinodecisions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/LCF-Aug20-Deck.pdf), favorability was 24 percentage points lower—41 percent—among those who understood Proposition 16 as keeping the status quo than it was among those who correctly recognized that it would reinstate affirmative action (65 percent). Support rose to 76 percent when Latinx voters were shown data on racial disparities. > > Similarly, [Black voters](https://abc7news.com/whats-prop-16-what-is-ca-propostion-california-2020-polls/6439595/) in a focus group said they would not support Proposition 16 when it was read to them. But after being told the measure favors affirmative action, more Black voters indicated they would support it. In a separate poll released [September 23](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4cd2r446), 51 percent of Black voters indicated they would support Proposition 16. Moreover, older voters who remember the 1996 ban may hold the misleading view that the law was a “prohibition against discrimination,” as the law’s original backers [framed](https://lao.ca.gov/ballot/1996/prop209_11_1996.html) it in this way. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/562 "2021-03-10T02:40:18Z")
[quote=“Sam\_Stone, post:556, topic:937271”] He doesn’t vanish after posting an inflammatory message, he stays and **tries to defend it**. [/quote] [emphasis added] Factual evidence proves this isn’t true. I’ve read every post in the thread. I can say that with certainty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271.md?page=29)